


They're Not Meant To Be Alone

by CobraOnTheCob



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Clone Trooper Culture (Star Wars), Gen, Togruta Culture & Traditions (Star Wars), Togruta physiology, background OCs - Freeform, background kaesoka, canon compatible, slight canon divergence via character design
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 00:02:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29144145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CobraOnTheCob/pseuds/CobraOnTheCob
Summary: Fifteen years is a long time to not see your vod'ika.There's a lot to unpack between the two of them
Relationships: CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 7
Kudos: 34





	They're Not Meant To Be Alone

**Author's Note:**

> at one point in my notes I joked that Ahsoka just throws the Ahsoka novel at Rex when he asks what happened after they separated
> 
> I started writing this because I couldn't get it out of my head on Rex noticing that a pair of lekku stripes are a little thinner than the rest. my personal preference for how [Ahsoka looks in this fic](https://cobraonthecob.tumblr.com/post/641230567312162816/im-never-consistent-in-how-i-draw-adult-ahsoka) is very different from what Rebels gave us (I've never been a fan about her Rebels montrals + lekku asdklfjasf)

They have a chance to talk and catch up - in his new quarters, of course. She sits there, watching him intensely as he moves in what few belongings he had, and when he does sit down, they fill each other in on the parts of their lives the other missed.

And then Rex notices something. Several somethings, in fact.

Small scars marred her lekku - scratches and burn marks from stray blaster bolts, as far as he could tell, along with the stripe above the lekku tips was thinner than the other stripes - she’d grown up into her montrals and lekku quite well despite the life she led, or at least, passingly so to an average person.

Rex was not an average person.

Being her ori’vod and her Captain, along with having medics who had to learn about Togruta physiology, Rex knew more about Togruta physiology than the average person. He knew that Togruta were a highly social species and were highly extroverted, needing to interact with others and have bonds with them. He knew that lekku were very sensitive and whatever scars she’d accumulated would’ve been quite painful to receive. 

But he didn’t just have a medic’s knowledge of Togruta - he also learned a bit of the culture as well.

And a part of that culture is that _only_ a lover could touch a Togruta’s lekku. 

It is why his hands stay on his knees, but he cannot take his eyes off that thin stripe above the lekku tips. 

“Something wrong?” Ahsoka asked, noticing that his focus wasn’t fully on the conversation anymore.

“Sorry, I just…” he slightly gestured at the thin stripes.

“What?”

“I know Togruta physiology,” Rex said, “Lekku stripes are indicators of how well the Togruta was when that stripe was being made. That stripe above the lekku tips? It’s thinner - what happened?”

“It just happened,” she said defensively, and he noticed her lekku shrinking in on itself.

“That was when we separated, wasn’t it?” Rex asked softly, and her silence was enough to confirm his suspicion, “What happened, where did you go?”

“Why do you want to know?” Ahsoka asked.

“You’re my vod’ika,” Rex said, “And I should’ve been there for you.”

“I told you before,” Ahsoka said, almost icily, “We’d - “

“I know, I know,” Rex said, “A Togruta and a blonde man that looks a bit like a clone trooper claiming to be siblings and around the age of the Jedi and clone troopers would be very suspicious, not to mention one of them is Force-sensitive. I know.”

“Damn it, Rex, we didn’t have a choice!” she snapped, and Rex only blinked at her outburst, “We didn’t have a choice - “

“Just like when you released Maul, hm?” Rex snapped back, and instantly regretted it. Ahsoka’s lekku flared, and he knew he went too far. She stood up, her face a mask of repressed fury.

“We can talk another time,” she said, and he could hear the anger shake her voice, and walked out before Rex could even apologize.

* * *

It wouldn’t be until two days later, when Ahsoka knocks on his door and he lets her in.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing he said as soon as they sat down.

“I deserved that - “

“No,” Rex cut her off, “I went too far, you really didn’t have a choice for releasing Maul, nor did you have a choice for separating.”

“But - “

“You’ve lived out the consequences for fifteen years,” Rex said, “You were alone for nearly a year, and who knows what else you’ve been through.”

“You want the whole story?” 

“Only if you’re comfortable with telling me.”

“Okay,” she said, “You were right - I was alone for a year. I mean, I had people around me, but I didn’t connect to them in a meaningful way. It was - I just lost _everything_ and I couldn’t bring myself to connect with them, not with how unstable my job was and how likely an Inquisitor would drop out of the sky and kill them all because of their association with me.”

“And it was a stressful time as well,” Rex said, and she nodded.

“And...you’ve noticed my scars,” she said, almost bashfully, “I’ve been collecting them over the years and never really bothered to get myself bacta or anything.”

“If Kix was here and you stuck with us, you wouldn’t be so scared,” Rex joked, and Ahsoka chuckled lightly. 

“I like my scars,” she said, “Gives me the ‘hardened survivor’ look.”

“For who?” Rex asked, “I know - wait. You met someone, haven’t you?” Ahsoka’s stripes darkened and Rex could only grin. 

“How do you know?”

“You know how our kih’vode were,” Rex said with a laugh, “But seriously, who’s this person?”

“Her name is Kaeden Larte,” Ahsoka said, “She became a medic, last I heard.”

“Last you heard?” Rex asked in surprise, “Do you - “

“We’ve been busy,” Ahsoka said almost harshly, the good mood now gone, “Me moving from place to place, and her being dedicated to being a medic.”

“You couldn’t bother to stick around to let her heal your lekku wounds?”

“I got most of them while she was in med school,” Ahsoka said, “And the rest, I wanted to keep them.”

“I see,” Rex said.

“Though to be honest, I would’ve liked to go to her,” she said, “You know how only a lover can touch a person’s lekku?”

“With the exception of a medic, right?” Rex asked, remembering the times whenever she’d get hurt and he’d make sure that she’d at least see Cloudburst.

“It’s different,” Ahsoka said, “Even with a medic, I still had my lekku in my hands. And Cloudburst never really touched my lekku when she was applying the bacta.”

“What?”

“I’d hold them myself and she’d apply it. She knew her limits, and I knew where and when she’d apply the bacta and that was it.” 

“I see,” Rex said, “So with her…”

“Perhaps,” Ahsoka said, “But the past’s the past. I can’t do anything to change it, even if I wish I could.”

“I see,” Rex said, “If there was one thing I could change, it’d be so that you’d have someone at your side in your year alone.”

“I wasn’t alone,” Ahsoka said.

“You had others around you, but you couldn’t form a meaningful relationship with them,” Rex said, “Isolation is the worst punishment you could do to a clone, and I can’t imagine what it’s like for a Togruta. Even the most introverted of us still desired some form of company.”

“No wonder why we got along like a flaming speeder crash,” Ahsoka chuckled. 

“Nothing like war and having similar needs bringing people together,” Rex chuckled.

“And nearly dying,” Ahsoka said.

“Let’s not try to die this time, right?”

“Can’t promise that, ori’vod,” she said with shake of her head, “The galaxy’s still after me.”

“Then stay alive as long as you can,” he said, “Please.” 

“Okay,” she said, and Rex could only breathe a sigh of relief. He didn’t want to admit it...but he was terrified at the idea of anyone else leaving him so soon. They hug, and she leaves, and Rex can only hope that he could hang onto his family a little bit longer.

* * *

When he didn’t see Ahsoka step out from behind Ezra and Kanan, he knew what happened.

She was gone.

He didn’t want to think about it, but he knew that the worst possible thing had happened.

Ahsoka Tano - his Commander and vod’ika - died on Malachor, leaving him the last survivor of the 501st.

It’s hard to be the one that survives, but he’ll carry on. The Rebellion still needs him, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> kaeden and rex should've met. they would've gotten along well


End file.
